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This year’s Woodseat’s Festival promises a packed week of events. The festival which is now an established annual event will have a range of events to bring the whole community together.

This year’s programme includes

• 2 Quiz Nights
• A meet the author event
• The Woodseats Palace 10th Birthday Party
• Woof-Seats! Dog Contest
• A Car Boot Sale
• A Craft Fair
• A Family Fun Day

The event culminates in the Grand Community Parade on Sunday 10 July. This year’s theme is ‘The Sky’s the Limit’, the parade will be lead by the marching band of cadets from the Greenhill based 366 King Ecgbert Squadron ATC. Everyone is welcome to join the parade starting at Abbey Lane School from 11.30am.

Full details can be found in the festival programme at: http://www.woodseatsfestival.org.uk

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Join the Rangers and create your very own Boggart in Graves Park then build it a home too. We will supply all the materials, all you need to bring is lots of imagination.

Meet on the grass by the animal farm. 

This is a family activity, car parking and toilets available, also designated resting points en route. Please wear suitable clothing and stout footwear.

Contact information:

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/rangers General Enquiries: 0114 268 6196

International Funfairs return to Graves Park this summer with the amazing battling Cumberland Giants . Visitors are being invited to come and meet the giants in person who will be battling it out on Saturday and Sunday in the specially built arena at the top of the park near to the café.

That’s not all at what is set to be one of the biggest events of the summer as the weekend will also see the park awash with character mascots from all the favourite children’s television programmes.

What’s even better is admission is totally free and elsewhere on the field there will be trampolines, vintage fire engines, inflatable attractions and food stalls. 

There will also be a huge international funfair in attendance when on Friday 5th of August all rides with the exception of the Devil Rock will be 99p.

The event takes place…

• Friday 5th August from 12noon until 9pm (Funfair only all rides 99p*).
• Saturday 6th August 12noon until 9pm (Entertainment and characters will be from 1pm until 6pm).
• Sunday 7th August 12noon until 6pm (Entertainment and characters will be from 1pm until 6pm).

For more details…

Trade Enquiries: 0114 245 1030 or 01302 842 511

General Enquiries: 0114 245 1030 or 01302 842511

http://www.internationalfunfairs.com/

Sheffield Man of Steel is an extreme race, with a challenging series of natural and manmade tough tests.

The  route itself comprises of many gradients, some sleight, some spectacular. Obstacles are set out to challenge you and break up the running building in difficulty from tree logs across the path to hurdle, hay bale walls to scale, a monkey bar section, a very fun slippery 40ft ground slide, up to tougher challenges such as leopard crawls under cargo nets, the heartbreaking  ‘Sandbag Slope’ and the revered ‘Travellator’, with some other added surprises along the way.

The race will start and finish at the Pavilion on the north side of Graves Park, which is located just off Hemsworth Road, Norton.

There are 5km and 10km routes and entry is £15.

For more information:

• A route map, online registration and training advise on the events website at http://sheffieldmanofsteel.co.uk
• If you have any questions or would just like some advice or more information about the race get in touch with the organisaer at sheffieldmanofsteel@gmail.com
• Alternatively head over the events Facebook Page for debate and discussions.

Walkers

26th June 2011

On 26th June 2011 the Sheffield Group of Diabetes UK will be holding their annual fundraising walk in Graves Park. The purpose of this event is to raise funds to support the work of Diabetes UK, and a large proportion is invested in research in Sheffield.

Everyone will be welcome to come along for an afternoon of fun and fund-raising. There are two different walks available this year: one is an easy 1 mile stroll; the other a little longer (3 miles) and harder. Both start and end at the Cafe car park and dogs on leads are welcome.

Walkers can get an application pack and collect sponsorship or simply donate on the day.

Side stalls will include a sale of second hand books, a plant sale and tombola’s with prizes for children and adults.

You can register in advance, or on the day. Even if you cannot attend, donations of goods for tombola prizes (or even cash!) would be welcome

Please email sheffield.diabetes@tesco.net or contact Lesley on 0114 2817708 to obtain more information or a fundraising pack.

A few people have contacted us to ask what’s happening with the playground by the Rose Garden. It’s being completely redesigned and extended!

This is a fantastic investment in our park and will open in early April (as long as bad weather doesn’t delay the build!).

Play for all

The aim is to create a play space that is as accessible to as many children as possible with a strong focus on those with disabilities.

Traditionally play areas have been designed without thinking about how people with disabilities might access the equipment. The designers have ensured that there are as few changes in level as possible. There will a quiet area where children can go to observe the park before they decide join in, this was a suggestion made by the parent of an autistic child, and bold colours will be used to denote certain areas for visually impaired children.

The Council has secured funding from the Aiming High for Disabled Children scheme. Aiming High for Disabled Children is a Government programme focusing on the transformation of services for disabled children and young people. The programme places a strong emphasis on short breaks and also activities that will provide universal recreational activities for disabled children and young people.

So what will there be?

All the equipment has been chosen with accessibility in mind, to allow children with disabilities to play alongside more able children

The playground will include…

• A new sand play area
• A cantilever swing
• Basket swings
• A trampoline
• A wheelchair accessible roundabout
• and many other pieces of fixed play equipment

There will also be more sensory elements such as planting, chimes and reflective surfaces.

Combined with the improvement in play, there will also be new paths from the café to the play area to aid mobility and accessibility and improvedfencing to ensure that it is a safe environment.

Who’s involved?

The Council has been working with the Friends of Graves Park and the Sheffield Parents and Carers Forum throughout the design process, with the Forum proving to be invaluable as they have children with a wide variety of disabilities.

For the third year running (sorry about the pun) Western Park Hospital Cancer Charity will be holding a fund raising race in Graves Park.

Last year over 300 people took part in the Run in the Park

Weston Park Hospital is 1 of only 3 dedicated cancer hospitals in the UK and is a world leader in cancer research. Every penny raised will help support research and improve treatment and care for people living with cancer here in the region.

The Runs

There will be two runs a 3k fun run and a 10k race.

The 3k Fun Run:

The Fun Run starts and finishes outside the main pavilion, the terrain is both a grass and path surface. The route will be fully marshalled. On finishing all participants will receive a medal and goody bag, and water will also be available.

The 10k Race:

The main 10k route is two laps of Graves Park, starting and finishing outside the main pavilion.  This is a slightly undulating course with a multi-surface terrain course of grass, gravel and tarmac. The course will be fully marshalled with distance markers every kilometre. There will be water stations at regular intervals (2.5k, 5k and 7.5k) and at the finish.

On completing the run each participant will receive an event t-shirt and goody bag and Science in Sport will be providing isotonic sports drinks.

Find Out How to Enter

For lots more information and to register to run visit the Run in the Park website.

Yesterday Sheffield City Council announced their budget for 2011/12; for the first time it is possible to understand the impact of public spending cuts on the city and more specifically it’s parks.

Graves Park is the city’s largest and the cuts are bound to have an impact on its facilities and maintenance.  The Councils Revenue Budget Report (item 16) hints at what is to come.

The report acknowledges that Sheffield’s residents are more satisfied with their parks than the residents of any other major town or city.  The report also highlights the close working relationships the Council have forged with ‘Friends of’ groups and acknowledges the benefits of this. 

In the Budget report the Council set out some of the options they are currently considering for parks, none are very palatable, they include:

• reducing management costs and maintenance budgets for parks and playgrounds
• charging for car parking at Hillsborough, Graves, Endcliffe and Millhouses parks.
• increasing charges for the hire of facilities in parks
• reducing the money provided to voluntary organisations to help improve the city’s green and open spaces in line with the reductions we have made to the overall parks budget
• reducing the number of rangers and community foresters, which will lead to a reduction in community activities such as tree planting, youth engagement, supporting volunteers and events and activities in parks and woodlands.

 There will also be cuts to the services delivered by Activity Sheffield who run activities in the park.

The Aiming High for Disabled Children programme, that has paid for the new accessible playground, also ends.

So is there any good news?

The Councils Councils Capital Programme Report (item 15) shows that in the last 12 months the Council has invested £243,000 in the parks playgrounds so at least there will be good places to play!

The Capital Report also states that there will be a resurfacing programme in 2011/12 targeted at renovations to the paths, drives and other surfaces predominantly within parks and cemeteries.  Also Tree Management works will also continue to allow Parks & Countryside staff to manage the significant backlog and high risks associated with dangerous trees, although the budget for tree works has been cut.  It is unclear how much of this work if any will be at Graves Park.

The Council have also stated that they will continue to work with ‘Friends of’ groups to work out what they can do with more constrained resources and they think that by focusing on the basics, and working with Sheffield people, they can achieve a lot with reduced funding.

Comment

The Council have invited comments on the Budget the invite and the full budget can be found on the City Council website.

Finally a reminder…

This website is independent – it is not run by the Council or Friends of Graves Park.  The website aims to provide an information resource for visitors to the park and the surrounding area.

Please help us run the pay for the site by clicking on the ad’s any funds raised beyond the costs of running the site will be donated to the Animal Farm.

If you would like to add to our site, perhaps you have some photos of the park or run a club who use the park, please contact us.